Montreal Art Centre. Since he took over the 19th century corner building in Montreal's historic Griffintown District, he has worked non-stop to turn the place from an abandoned factory into the vibrant, modern art centre it is today. It hasn't been easy, and it hasn't been quick. But has it been worth it? Most definitely. This place brings a lot of happiness to a lot of people.

Allan is supported by a team of volunteers, many of whom are local artists. The Montreal Art Centre brings them all together to share their enthusiasm for the arts and creativity. "We have artists of all types, all ages and all abilities who work and teach here. It's really an amazing community, and with so many creative souls around the place there is never a dull moment," he says. In the past year alone, the art centre has been host to over a dozen exhibitions of artists from all over the world, including The Global Art League Exhibition of Emerging and Professional Artists, which saw the work of over 100 talented artists on display for the people of Montreal to visit for free.

On top of the exhibitions happening on a regular basis, the Montreal Art Centre is home to the Griffintown Art School, a thriving centre for those interested in learning art of all kinds. One of the teachers, Roxanna Kibsey, has been a member of the art centre since its beginning. "One of the most fabulous things about this place is that we see people of all ages coming through the doors. Some are well-read art historians or students in fine art, and others have never picked up a paintbrush in their life. Everybody leaves the class with a smile on their face, because everyone has it inside them to be an artist."

Turning the art centre into what it is today has been a real adventure for Allan: “When I started out I had a vision of a collection of artists’ studios. This is one of the things that we offer, but we now offer so much more—and some of the developments have been a surprise, even for me.” Alongside the artist studio rental, and the art classes that have proven immensely popular, the Montreal Art Centre has become known as one of the coolest venues in town to hold a private function.

“We’ve had five or six weddings here already, as well as a dozen birthday parties,” explains Allan. But there was one event that caught the team by surprise: “We suddenly had a couple of inquiries for bachelorette parties,” Allan smirks. “Some ladies had heard about the Monday evening nude model drawing class, and they thought it’d be a good idea for a bachelorette party—so we thought, why not?” And just like everything else at this hub of creativity, the bachelorette parties have proven to be a big hit.

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Meet the owner

In 2011, Allan Diamond was ready to adopt a slower pace of life. As a successful entrepreneur and a self-proclaimed workaholic, he wasn't going to take to retirement easily. Having been a lifelong art lover and a talented hobbyist painter, he thought, what better way to ease into retirement than to open up an art centre? This would give him ample opportunity to work on his two favourite things: business and art.

"Well, it didn't quite work out like that, and the first two years I was here I hardly got to paint at all," laughs the good-humoured owner of the Montreal Art Centre. Since he took over the 19th century corner building in Montreal's historic Griffintown District, he has worked non-stop to turn the place from an abandoned factory into the vibrant, modern art centre it is today. It hasn't been easy, and it hasn't been quick. But has it been worth it? Most definitely. This place brings a lot of happiness to a lot of people.